One local expert said the debate may have been renewed but the answer remains the same: It is used only when a police officer believes it's needed to save a life.

"That's a very restrictive parameter," said Andrew Scott.

Scott was in law enforcement for 30 years and was the chief of police in Boca Raton for seven years.

He said it's foolish to suggest that Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson should have tried to stop Michael Brown by shooting him in the knee or leg. Scott said that is never an option.

"It's unrealistic and it's not going to happen. You'll have more police officers dead than you'll have anything else," he said.

"Police officers are not trained, under no circumstances, to shoot and wound. They're trained to shoot and neutralize the threat."

Scott said that doesn't mean shoot to kill but it does mean making sure the other person is no longer a threat.

He said an officer can't shoot a knee or a leg because the targets are too small. He said officers are all trained to shoot for center mass, the chest. And they're trained to fire more than once if necessary.

"Nine times out of 10, an individual who is shot and is shot center mass, they're not going down," Scott said. "They're still going to be active. They're still going to potentially be aggressive."

Scott said no officer wants to shoot and kill; it's always considered a last option.